Kittymomma's Adventures

The 12-week appointment, which included the nuchal translucency ultrasound, was this morning. I was feeling much better after making it to 12 weeks. I even found myself looking forward to this appointment. But, of course, last night, I became terrified the baby wouldn’t be alive when we did the ultrasound.

My fears were unfounded. Baby is very much alive. He/she has a heart rate of 157. (Since we don’t know gender, I am going to refer to the baby as “they”, because I don’t like saying “it” or typing “he/she” over and over.) They are measuring perfectly for their due date, moving around and doing everything they are supposed to do.

The NT scan was perfect. It ruled out 90% of chromosomal conditions, such as Down Syndrome and the Trisomys. It doesn’t mean that there is no chance this child will be born with one of those, but it is very unlikely. The skull has closed over the brain. There is fluid in the stomach and bladder, which means they are swallowing and making urine. We can’t tell much about the state of the heart until the baby is bigger, but it is a great heart rate at this point.

AND, this week the tech thought it looked like a girl! Last week, the nurse and I thought we saw boy parts. It is still far from conclusive, but it seems like the Internet was right when it said that boy and girl parts still look a lot alike at this point. The tech said she thinks there is maybe an 80% chance it is a girl. It will be interesting to see. I’m not buying any pink yet. Although I have a slight preference for girl, I am honestly fine either way. My expectations have drastically lowered. I just want this baby to stay alive and not have any serious health problems.

We did the MaterniT21 today, which will further test for genetic problems and conclusively tell us the gender. We should get the results in 1 1/2 – 2 weeks. I have heard of problems with false girl results with these tests, but the nurse at my doctor’s office assured me that is not the case with this test. I wonder if I will be able to fully believe in the gender until we see it on the 20-week sono, though. That’s what I’m used to.

So, it seems like we have survived the flu and baby is doing wonderfully! Thank you for all of your prayers and good wishes.